AuthorTopic: Ah the joys of troubleshooting (Read 2587 times)

So...I power up my rig and my Boss GX-700 display is FUBAR. It's showing a row of boxes and a blank row beneath...no characters at all. Luckily, I have another unit, and I figure I can just cannibalize that display for my main unit.

So...I try to take my rack apart and remove the GX-700. I find that I have a stripped rack screw that i have to drill out, but I have spares. Drilling commences, the screw drops out, and I can now remove that clip. I get the unit out, take the screws from the cover (quite a few of these BTW), and look inside. It looks pretty clean in there, nothing out of place.

I make sure all the ribbon cables are plugged into the display screen and I power up the unit to see if the display is still broken....NOPE. It's fine.

So, I put the whole shebang back together and figure out I have my cables connected wrong again but get it sorted out.

An hour later, my rig is back to where it was before I started....except now the display is magically working and I have a bunch of tools to put away

One thing I find that helps in a rig with a lot of connections is to label the cable ends for their respective connection points. Especially if you are plugging and unplugging a lot. Small adhesive labels and a sharpie with some clear scotch tape over it can help simplify this setup.

Most likely, one of those cable connectors had a tiny amount of oxidization on the mating pins.This is quite common; happens to my old Viewsonic VP201b computer monitor at some 3-4 years intervals.

BTW: I'd warn against cleaning connectors using emerald cloth - or sandpaper! Sometimes, those fibreglas brushes shaped like a lipstick can be handy, but do note that they can still damage surface coatings.

Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, AKA baking soda, in a mild dilution, is your friend - but do make sure you can get to clean it off again, using alcohol.BTW, Tequila is pretty good for cleaning; actually, is good for a lot of things

Yup, forgot the eraser. Can be really good for cleaning contacts et al - as long as those aren't too thin or flimsy.When they're thin and fragile, just always stroke 'away' i.e. from their attachment and towards the end/edge.

I try to avoid Walmart myself, relatively easy to do here though LoL .

What you saw on the screen is the same as what I get (from time to time) running the MP2 on a dodgy generator (totally different cause though). But in this situation, the only fix is power cycle the MP2 (why does it always happen in the middle of solos... ). Anyway haven't had an issue since I bought the 750kva UPS, and when the genny runs out of petrol (gas?), I get to keep playing .